Temperance > Autobiography and personal recollections of John B. Gough

96
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
JOHN B. GOUGH.
some more drink presently; but I certainly will to-mor-
row.”
“We have a temperance meeting to-morrow evening,”
he said, “will you sign it then?”
“ I will.”
“That is right,” said he, grasping my hand; “I will be
there to see you! ”
“You shall,” I remarked, and we parted.
I went on my way, much touched by the kind interest
which, at last, some one had taken in my welfare. I said
to myself: “If it should be the last act of my life, I will
perform my promise and sign it, even though I die in the
attempt; for that man has placed confidence in me, and
on that account I love him.”
I then proceeded to a low groggery in Lincoln Square
hfitel, and in the space of half an hour, drank several
glasses of brandy; this, in addition to what I had taken
before, made me very drunk, and I staggered home as
well as I could.
Arrived there, I threw myself on the bed and lay in a
state of insensibility until morning. The first thing which
occurred to my mind on awaking, was the promise I had
made on the evening before, to sign the pledge; and feel¬
ing, as I usually did on the morning succeeding a drunken
bout, wretched and desolate, I was almost sorry that I
had agreed to do so. My tongue was dry, my throat
parched, my temples throbbed as if they would burst, and
I had a horrible burning feeling in my stomach whicli
almost maddened me, and I felt that I must have some
bitters or I should die. So I yielded to my appetite,
which would not be appeased, and repaired to the same
h6tel where I had squandered away so many shillings
before; there I drank three or four times, until my nerves
were a little strung, and then I went to work.